The development constraints facing the Palestinian people predominantly stem from the fact that they have not been able to establish their independent State(2).

The final status of the borders of the future Palestinian State and Jerusalem, as well as the fate of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory and that of Palestinian refugees remain unresolved.

At present, the area of land under the Palestinian Authority's civil jurisdiction is limited to the Gaza Strip and less than 40 per cent of the West Bank areas.

Israel also controls Gaza's borders, coastline and airspace, as stipulated in Israel's 2004 Disengagement Plan from the Gaza Strip.

(2)

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this website do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Secretariat of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.